MacKenzie Dunham

MacKenzie Dunham

Executive Director and Staff Attorney

When I was 10 my parents went through a divorce. I don’t think any of us really saw it coming. My brothers and I were heartbroken. Our worlds were completely changed in the fraction of a second. My brother and I moved to the United States, I had to adapt to the new surroundings while dealing with a set of changes I had no control over. After the divorce I saw less and less of my dad. Not because of him, but because distance made the visits impractical.

At the time, I was all too aware of the role my parents’ attorneys played during this life changing transition for all of us. My mothers attorney especially made the transition as smooth as possible. It was with her guidance that the entire process ended as quickly as it started. Still, my parents divorce changed changed the course of my life. That’s when I knew then I wanted to be an attorney.

What we do as attorneys affects people’s lives, money, and their family. Being able to help people through the toughest time in their lives is one privileges of being an attorney. It’s why I love what I do.

Why I Started Access Justice Houston

I started Access Justice Houston because of the things I started to see when I was in Law School. I had worked at different firms, attended a bunch of legal related conferences and talked to hundreds of lawyers and clients. Every lawyer I talked to seem to tell me the same thing, “the hardest thing about law practice is finding clients who pay”, whereas most clients complained that lawyers “would not returning phone calls” or “are simply way too expensive”. I think all of these concerns are more of a symptom of our legal system than anything else. The courts we have in Texas were never designed to be affordable, and most attorneys simply don’t have the time to communicate with their clients as effectively as they could. The good news is it doesn’t have to stay that way.

With Access Justice Houston we were able to help address some of these problems. First, we found that a lot of folks simply couldn’t afford to pay for the going hourly rate of $250 an hour for an attorney. So we tried to find as many ways to reduce our fees that we could. Technology was a lifesaver, we automated as much as possible to make things less time consuming. In the end we found that we could reduce our rates to a much more affordable rate. Second, we tried to make the entire legal process much more collaborative. Lawyers working with clients rather than leaving the clients in the dark. We try our best to return each and every phone call within a reasonable time. Our clients know that if they need to see us after hours or make reasonable accommodations they can just ask us. When you work for middle class Texans, who have shifts that constantly change every week, our job is to make sure that we are as accessible as possible.

We understand that our legal system can seem complicated and scary, that every interaction with the court system can change your entire life. We do our best to be your legal concierge that can address any and all issues you’ll face in one of the most important time in your life.

Regular Old Bio

Mackenzie attended the University of Houston Law Center and graduated in May of 2017. He founded Access Justice Houston with his law partner Douglas Evans in November of 2017. MacKenzie handles the family law side of AJH. Through his work for his clients he’s consistently learned ways to make what was once expensive and lengthy litigation, more affordable for his clients. MacKenzie is passionate about serving those who don’t have access to an affordable attorney: those in the middle, who work hard everyday but could easily be crippled by a legal setback. Prior to founding Access Justice Houston MacKenzie worked at a Houston consumer law firm dedicated to protecting the rights of his clients from deceptive trade practices and scams.

As an attorney MacKenzie constantly finds ways to innovate the delivery of legal services to his clients. He is an advocate for Incorporating efficient and easier best practices to make the legal process work for our clients rather than the other way around. These practices, like incorporating automation, ensures the quality of the services AJH’s Attorneys provide for our clients

In the Spring of 2017 MacKenzie was chosen to be one of four students that were sent to help train United States Court Guards investigators through trial demonstration. MacKenzie recognized for his achievements in trial advocacy by the Houston Bar Association Litigation Section in April of 2017. For his effective use of storytelling and trial strategy, MacKenzie was awarded the 2017 Jim Perdue Sr. Trial Advocacy Award

Awards / Speaking Engagements

Doug Evans

Director of Legal Services & Founder

As an attorney, Doug practices criminal defense, immigration, and family law. He is a graduate of University of Houston Law Center and spent his time in law school working in nonprofit criminal defense and immigration work. He is a Class of 2017 member of Gideon’s Promise.